PROSECUTORS REFUSE BRITNEY SPEARS

Toxic singer Britney Spears is still facing charges of driving without a licence after prosecutors in California refused to dismiss the case.The hearing, which took place on yesterday, was originally set for last month, but it was postponed after Spears’ lawyers argued the star was not fit to give a deposition.The case relates to an incident last August, when Spears scraped a parked car in a private parking lot in California’s San Fernando Valley while driving without a valid licence.The hit-and-run charge, which was caught on camera, was dismissed in court in October, after Spears offered a personal apology and $1,000 in compensation to the vehicle’s owner, Kim Robard-Rifkin. But the troubled star is still facing a charge of driving without a valid California driving licence, because at the time she was only in possession of a permit from her native Louisiana. Her lawyer, Charlie Unger, urged the court to drop the charges, insisting that Spears "seems to be getting her life together. She has nothing on her record other than the infraction-type tickets we all get." But prosecutor Michael Amerian refused to back down, arguing that continuing the case is "the fairest way to treat her. (We’re) not affected by her celebrity status." The next hearing is set for June 18th.